Photographic camera



Dec. 22, 1942. E, JRG 2,305,786

PHOTOGRAPHIC CAMERA Filed Feb. 8,` 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet l Dec. 22, 1942. E. JRG 2,305,786

PHOTOGRAPHIC CAMERA Filed Feb. 8, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheekl 2 Patented Dec. 22, 1942 PHOTOGRAPHIC CAMERA Eugen Jrg, Stuttgart, Germany; vested in the Alien Property Custodian Application February 8, 1940, Serial No. 317,981

In-Italy December 7, 1939 8 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in photographic cameras and particularly is directed to foldable rollfllm cameras of the type in which the bellows with the camera objective thereon is automatically extended by spring actuated braces when the hinged cover of the camera casing is opened.

It is an object of the invention to provide a rollillm camera with an automatically extended bellows in which the cover opens lengthwise of the camera casing and during its opening movement actuates a mechanism which moves the camera objective a substantial distance beyond the outer end of the cover. type the cover need not be made as long as the required extension of the bellows, but may be made substantially shorter, for instance as short as the smallest side of the picture to be produced with the camera.

Another object of the invention ls to provide a rollfilm camera of the above mentioned type in which the cover, which is hingedly connected lengthwise of the camera casing, is substantially as long as the smallest side of the rectangular picture adapted to be produced by the camera, thus reducing the width of the camera casing to a minimum. 4

Still another object of the invention is the arrangement of means on the braces and actuated by a member on the cover during its movement for rigidly supporting the camera objective in its operative position in which latter position the camera objective projects beyond the outer end of the cover.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent or will be specifically pointed out in the following description forming a part of this specification, but the invention is not limited to the embodiu l ment hereinafter described, as various forms may be adapted within the scope of the claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation view of the rolllm camera when in open operative position.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation view of the rolllm camera as shown in Fig. 1, with certain parts in section and broken away.

Fig. 3 illustrates in an enlarged scale the brace-structure and the objective supporting means of the camera when the latter is in operative position, and 1 Fig. 4 illustrates a side elevation view of the camera, partly folded. v

Referring to the drawings, the camera cas- In a camera of this to the long side of the camera casing by a hinge pin 4 or the like. The cover 3 is substantially as wide in longitudinal direction of the camera casing as the long side of the rectangular picture adapted to be taken with the camera, while the length of the cover 3 is substantially as large as the width of the camera casing or the short side of the picture, the sizeof which is indicated ing I is of rectangular shape and is provided in its front wall 2 with a cover 3 hlngedly connected in dotted lines in Fig. l. It will be noted that the total length of the camera casing I includes at the ends thereof the customary compartments 5 and 6 for the film supply spool 1 and film takeup spool 8 respectively.k

A pair of braces II'I and II pivotally connected at I2 with each other is arranged at each side of the cover 3 and connects the latter with the camera casing I to support the cover 3 in its open position at a right angle with respect to the front wall 2 of the camera casing I. Each pair of`braces IIi, II is subjected to the action of a spring Il which automatically forces the braces III, II into an extended position to thereby open the cover 3 as soon as a locking device I5, which normally holds the cover I3 in its closed position, ls released by the depression of a button I6. The upper braces Ill are bent inwardly at Illn (Fig. 1) to properly meet the lower braces II which extend upwardly from brackets 3| atnecessary to set and tension the shutter, to adjust the diaphragm and to focus the objective by rotatably adjusting its mount. In the present instance the shutter release knob 24 is mounted on the narrow top wall 25 of the camera casing I adjacent the film advancing knob 2l.

Heretofore it was customary in foldable roll film cameras of the type described-in which the pictures produced are rectilinearto hinge the cover about an axis extending transversely of the camera casing or, in other words, about an axis parallel to the small side of the rectangular camera casing. In such a case it is not diiiicult to make the cover of sufficient length as is `required for extending the bellows a distance equal to the focal length of the objective.

If, however, the cover is hinged about an axis extending parallel to the long side of the camera casing it is not possible to make the cover longer than the width of the camera casing and therefore the maximum extension of the bellows until now was equal to the length of thecover. Such a length of the bellows limits the size of the picture to be taken to a square, the sides of which are approximately as longas the camera casing is wide.

Inorder to produce pictures which are rectangular andwhose long side is longer than the width of the camera casing, it is necessary in a camera of the last mentioned type to extend the bellows a greater distance as the cover is long, because thecamera objective employed will have a longer focal length and must be moved beyond the outer end of the cover when the latter is open. Such a position of the objective is illustrated in Fig. 2 and the mechanism which accomplishes this result forms the principal object of the present invention and will now be described in detail.

The lower ends of the braces II are each piv-` otally attached at 30 to the brackets 3| which are secured flxedly to the outer end of the cover 3 on the inner side thereof. 'I'he lower end of each brace I I is provided with a sector-shaped portion 33 whose center point coincides with the pivot axis III. Forwardly of this pivot axis 30 the sector-shaped portion 33 has attached thereto a laterally extending pin 34 projecting into a guide slot 35 of a member 35 which supports the camera objective 20. 'I'his member 3B is pivotally supported by a shaft 31 resting in bearings 38 on the inside of the cover 3 and positioned about half-way between the pivot axis 30 and the outer edge 3* of the cover 3. The-camera objective 20 is mounted in an objective carrier 40, which may contain the shutter and the diaphragm, as is well known in the art. 'I'his carrier 40 has also one end oi' the extensible bellows 39 attached thereto and is pivotally connected at approximately two diametrically opposed points at II to two upwardly extending portions 42 of-.the member 35 so as to be pivotally supported by the latter about an horizontal axis in a. plane slightly below the horizontal plane in which the optical axis of the objective 20 is positioned. The otherAend of lthe bellows 39 is attached to the camera casing in conventional manner. It will be noted from Figs. 2 and 3 that in the operative position of the camera the pivot axis 4I of the objective 20 is positioned in a vertical plane substantially rearwardly of the front end of the objective, but substantially forwardly of a vertical planev in which the pivot axis 31 of the members 36 is positioned. In fact, in the operative position of the camera the pivot axis 4I is positioned in front of the outer edge 3` of the cover 3, thus supporting the camera objective 25 a substantial distance beyond the forward edge 3n of the cover 3 and making the total extension of the bellows 39, including the objective 2l greater than the length of the cover 3. In this operative position of the camera the member 35 is held rigid in the illustrated vertical position by the pin 84 on the sector-shaped lower end 33 oi.' each brace II, because these pins 34 engage one end of the guide slots 35 of the member 3l.

In order to prevent in the operative position of the camera a tilting of Vthe objective carrier I0 and the objective 2l about the axis 4I each brace I I has pivotally secured at its sector-shaped portion I3 at AIl a plate 45 provided with a guide slot 45. A pin 41 on the upper end of a bracket 4l secured to the inner face of the cover 3 projects into the guide slot I5 so as tc move the forward end 45* of the plate 45 against the lower end 40* of the objective carrier ll when the camera is unfolded as shown in Fig. 3.

'I'he operation of the brace structure when the camera is folded is as follows:

In order to close the camera the operator exerts a downwardly directed pressure on the braces I0, II approximately at their pivot connection at I2 as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2. This has the effect that the braces II swing anticlockwise about their lower pivot point 3l, thereby initiating the closing movement of the cover 3. At the same time the plate 45 is moved away from the lower .portion 45* of the objective carrier 40 so that the member 35 can rotate about the pivot axis 4I during the further closing movement of the cover 3. The pin 3l on the sectorshaped portion 33 of the brace II moves along the guide slot 35 in the member and rotates the latter anti-clockwise about the shaft 3'I until the pivot axis II about which the objective 20 is relatively rotated reaches the position indicated with ll* in Fig. 3, when the cover 3 is closed. 'I'he guide slot 35 in the member 3l is of such a shape that the camera objective 2l during the closing of the camera is substantially moved along its optical axis from its extended position (Figs. 2 and 3) to its retracted position, when the camera is completely folded together, thus folding the bellows 39 together uniformly without kinking.

Fig. 4 illustrates the various parts of the camera and the brace structure when the camera is partly folded together. The spring Il are of sufficient strength to push the braces III, I I outwardly and to thereby open the cover I and move the objective 20 into operative position as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 as soon as the locking device I5, I6 is manually released.

What I claim is:

1. In a foldable photographic camera, a rectangular camera casing provided with a cover hingedly attached to one of the longer sides of said casing and supporting the camera objective in its operative position when the cover is opened, two foldable braces, each consisting of two parts pivotally connected with each other, the ends of said braces being pivotally attached to said camera casing and said cover respectively, and in their extended position support the latter in its open position at a right angle with respect 4to the camera casing, manually releasable locking means for keeping said cover in its closed position, spring means for automatically moving said cover into its open position, when said locking means is released, an. objective support pivotally mounted on said cover about an axis which is spaced a greater distance from the hinged end of said cover than the pivot connection between said braces and said cover. said objective support being operatively connected with said braces to be moved by the latter from a substantially horizontal position with respect to the .cover when the latter is closed to a substantially vertical position with respect to said cover when the latter is opened, said camera objective being pivotally attached to said objective support to remain with its optical axis always in the same direction when the objectivesupport is rotated about its pivot axis with said cover, the pivot axis of said objective with said objective support in the operative position of the camera being located in a plane in front of the outer end of said cover, and means on said braces for engaging said camera objective in its operative position to prevent an camera casing, a camera objective, an extensible bellows connecting said camera casing with said objective, a cover hinged to one of the longer sides of said casing and supporting thev camera objective in its extended operative position when the cover is opened. means including a pair of braces, each being foldable between their ends connecting the camera casing with said cover for limiting the opening movement ot the latter to a right angle with respect to the camera casing, spring means for automatically moving said cover into its open position an objective support pivotally supported by said cover and operatively connected with said means for limiting the opening movement of the cover to be moved by said means Iromf a substantially horizontal position with respect to the cover when the latter is closed to a substantially vertical position with respect to said cover when he latter is opened, said sup;- port having said camera objective pivotally attached to a portion which in the open position oi' said cover extends beyond the outer end of said cover, and means controlled by the movement oi' said cover for engaging in the open position of the same a portion of said objective to prevent an accidental tilting movement of the same in its extending operative position.

EUGEN JORG. 

